It’s time for taxpayers to stop getting taken by surprise, and stop getting taken for granted by California politicians.

People are surprised that their sales tax rose in LA County last week, to 10.25%.

People are surprised that Metrolink fares are rising this week, by as much as 27%.

People were surprised when the “mansion tax” passed, and new apartment construction suddenly slowed down.

People are going to be surprised when Gavin Newsom’s new tax on health insurance premiums kicks in — about $100 per person, per year. 

There are two questions here: Why do these taxes keep passing? And why are voters, and consumers, taken by surprise almost every time?

Xavier Becerra participates in a California gubernatorial debate hosted by CNN at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park. AP

The first answer is that California’s politicians have an endless appetite for other peoples’ money.

And they are determined to get it.

They know the rules of the game. They are organized. They are well-funded — often by the same donors who stand to benefit from the new taxes and new spending.

And — let’s face it — California is a one-party state. Not one Republican has been elected statewide since Arnold Schwarzenegger. That was 20 years ago.

Democrats take the voters for granted.

A woman holds a receipt from purchases in a supermarket. I – stock.adobe.com

Those who might object to tax increases — the general public — are less organized. Taxpayers are also overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of battles they have to fight.

The political class has unlimited resources. Ordinary people do not.

That said — it’s not impossible to fight new taxes. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association fights to defend the cap on property tax increases that voters enacted with Proposition 13 in 1978. 

But that’s just one tax. The politicians are raising taxes on everything.

And the reason voters are caught by surprise because they just don’t know that they’re going to be taxed.

When voters are told, they are usually lied to. That’s what happened when Xavier Becerra changed the name of the gas tax repeal initiative in 2018 to mislead the public.

Often the lie is about what the tax is for.

As LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger wrote in The California Post recently, voters were told that Measure ER, the recent sales tax hike, would pay for health care. 

Except there’s nothing in the proposition that requires that. The money goes into the general fund.

It’s time for voters to get informed and to stand up for themselves.

The California Post is here for you in that fight.